Feminist Gaming Critic Was Targeted With Bomb Threat at Awards Show

Anita Sarkeesian, a feminist critic of the video-game industry, was the target of a bomb threat at an awards show this March, according to a Kotaku report. She was set to accept an Ambassador Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards for her work.

According to the group's organizers, 25 of the event's staffers received an email with this message:

"A bomb will be detonated at the Game Developer's Choice award ceremony tonight unless Anita Sarkeesian's Ambassador Award is revoked. We estimate the bomb will kill at least a dozen people and injure dozens more. It would be in your best interest to accept our simple request. This is not a joke. You have been warned."

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Sarkeesian has been open about the levels of threats she receives on a daily basis due to her Tropes Vs. Women in Video Games series on YouTube. In her videos, she analyzes female characters and plot devices in video games from a feminist perspective. Polygon reports that Sarkeesian filed a police report last month about "some very scary threats" she received online that forced her and her family to leave their home, and the FBI is investigating.

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Authorities sent bomb-sniffing dogs to the San Francisco venue after the March threat, but found nothing. The awards show boosted security and Sarkeesian accepted her award safely.